Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-12-28

| to be demolished amidst the ringing bias
of the arch-angel's trumpet SO that a
there was music at the start, there shall b.
music at the close. While this heavenl.
art has often been dragged into the uses o
superstition and d ssipation, we all know
may be the means of high moral culture
Oh, it is grand thing to have our childre'
brought up amidst the sound Of cultured
voices and amidst the melody Of musica
instruments. There is in this art an indie
scribable fascination for the household
Let a / those families who have the mean
to afford it, have flute, or harp, or piano. o.
organ. As soon as the hand il large enough
to compass the keys, teach it how to picl
out the melody. Let all our young mel
try this heavenly art upon their nature. =
Those who have gone into 1t fully have
found in it illimitable recreation and amuse
ment. Dark days, 8 ormy nights, seasons
of sick ness, business disasters, will do little
toward depressing the soul which can gal
lop off over musical keys or soar in jubilan
lay. 1t will cure pain. 1t will rest fatigue
It will quell passion. 1t will revive health
1t will reclaim dissipation. 1t will strength
en- the immortal soul. In the battle ol
Waterloo, Wellington saw that the High
landeIs were falling back. He said
ssWhat is the matter there ?" He was tolG
| that the band of music had ceased playing
and he called up the pipers and ordered
| them to strike up an inspiriting air; and nc
sooner did they strike the air than the High
landers were rallied and helped to win the
day. Oh, We who have been routed in the
conflicts of life, try by the force of music &C
rally your scattered battalions.
| l am glad to know that in our great
cities there is hardly night in which there
are not concerts, where with the best must.
cal Instruments and the sweetest voices
people may find entertainment. Patronizt
such entertainments when they are afforded
you. Buy season tickets, if you can, fol
the philharmonic aud the "Handel and
Haydn" societies. Feel that the dollar and
half or two dollars that you spend for the
purpose of hearing an artist play or sing ID
profitable investment. Let your Stein.
way Halls and your Academies of Music
roar with the acclamation of appreciative
audiences assembled at the concert or the
oratorio.
Still further: commend, as worthy OF
their support, the gymnasium. This insti-
tuition is gaining in favor every year, and
know of nothing more free from dissipation,
or more calculated to recuperate the physi-
cal and mental energies. While there are
good many people who have employed this
institution there is vast number who are
ignorant of its excsllences. There are men
with cramped chests and weak sides and
despondent spirits who through the gymna-
sium might be reused up to exuberance ard
exhilaration of life. There are many Chris
tian people Respondent from year to year,
who might, through such an institution be
benefited in their spiritual relations. There
are Christian people who seem to think that
it is good sign to be poorly; and because
Richard Baxter and Robert Hall were inva.
lids, they think that by the same sickness
they may come to the same grandeur of
character. / want to tell the Christian peo-
pie of my congregation that God will hold
you responsible for your invalidism If it is
your fault aud when through right exer-
cises and prudence you might be athletic
aud we'll The effect of the body upon the
soul you acknowledge. Put man of mild
disposition upon the animal diet of which
the Indian partakes, and in a little while
his blood will change its chemical proper
tious. It will become like unto the blood
of the lion or the tiger or the bear, while his
disposition will change, and become fierce,
cruel, and unrelentiDg. The body has a
powerful effect upon the soul.
There are good people whose ideas OF
heavea are all shut out with clouds of to
bacco smoke. There are people who dare
to shatter The phys vase in which God
has put the Jewel of eternity. There are
me-. with great hearts aud intellects in
bodies worn out by their own neglects-
magnificent machinery capable of propelling
Great Eastern across the Atlantic, yet
fastened in rickety North river propeller.
Martin Luther was SO mighty for God
first, because he had noble soul, aud Sec
ondly, because be had a muscular develop
men5 which would have enabled him to
| th rash any five of bis prosecutors, if it had
been Christian so to do. Physical develop-
ment which merely shows itself in fabulous
lifting, or in perilous rope-walkiug. or in
puglistic encounter, excites only our con-
| tempt; but we confess TO great admiration
for the man who has great soul IN an
athletic b ,dy, every nerve, muscle, and bone
of which is consecrated to right uses. Oh,
| it seems to me outrageous that men,
through neglect. should allow their physical
health to go down beyond repair. A ship
which aught, with all sail set and every
man at his post, to be carrying a rich cargo
for eternity, employing all its men in STOP
| ping up leakages! When you may, through
the pymnaslum, work off your spleen and
your ouerulousuess and one half Of your
physical and mental ailments. do not turn
your back upon such grand medicsment.
Still further: commend to yon large
class of parlor games and recreations. There
| is way of making our homes hundred.
| fold more attractive than they are now
Those parents cannot expect to keep Their
children away from outside designations un.
less the domestic circle is brighter than any
thing they can hnd outside of it, Do not,
then, sit in your home surly and unsympa-
| thetic and with halfcondemnatory look,
because of the sporttuluess of your children.
| You were young once yourself let your
children be young. Because your eyes are
dim and your ankles are stiff, do not de
nounce eportfulness in those upon whose
eyes there is the first lustre and in whose
health. I thank God that in our drawing
rooms and in our parlors there are innumer-
able games and sports which have not up
ON them the least taint of iniquity. Light
ND all your homes with innocent h:larities
Do not sit down with the rheumatism, wen
dering how children can go on so. Rather
thank God that their hearts are so light,
and their laughter is 80 free, and that their
cheeks are SO ruddy, and that their expecta
nons are so radiant. The night will come
soon enough, and the heartbreak, aud the
pang, and the desolation-it will came soon
enough for the dear children. But when
the storm actually clouds the sky, it will be
time enough for you to haul out your reef
tackles. Garry. then, into your homes not
only the innocent sports and games which
are the inventions of our own day, but the
games which come down with the sportful-
ness of all the past ages-chess md cha
rades and tableaux and battledore and calls.
themes aud lawn-tennis, and all those
amussments which the young people of our
homes know so well how to contrive. Then
there will be the parlor socialitles-groups
of people assembled in your homes with
wit and mimicry and joviality, filling the
room with joy from the door to the mantel,
from the carpet to the ceiling. Oh, is there
any exhilaration like score of genial souls
in one room, each one adding contribution
of his own individual merriment to the ag-
gregation of general hilarity?
Suppose you want to 60 abroad in the
city, then you will Hnd the panorama and
the art gallery and exquisite collections OF
pictures. You will fad the Metropolitan
Museum and the Historical Society rooms
full of rare curinsities, and scores of places
which can stand plainly the test of what is
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